sales trainee

senior loan specialist

operations intern

loan specialist

branch manager

Republic Finance

I waited some time after leaving the company to write this review for the sake of fairness.
First- New employee training. There is no handbook or play-by-play breakdown of the loan process.  Given these products can have legal ramifications, I would think it'd be incredibly important for employees to actually understand what we were asking customer's to sign, rather than the attitude of "Oh, you have to sign this as part of your loan". Training by observation of the loan process is a waste WITHOUT a dedicated process laid out to back it up. Our office was always busy- asking for help basically resulted in another employee finishing from the point you asked for help.  It was not an effective teaching tool.   If management sees this- PLEASE consider an overhaul of how you train new employees. Republic already has an onboarding system in place- that could be expanded to explain the entirety of the loan process as well as some sales training.

Secondly- This job is pitched as an Assistant Manager position, but make no mistake- 99% of this job is sales and collection.  That's fine and well- after all, one does have to understand how every aspect of the business functions to run a branch.  However, the goals presented to new employees are almost impossible to achieve.  For example, as the newest member in a branch of 5, I was given a list of customers that were "mine", which consisted of about 100 different individuals that I was expected to call pretty much every day- and that were the lowest "Tiered" customers in the system.  Customers get sick of being called, and most wouldn't pick up the phone.  New loans/renewals were almost impossible to generate this way. Just about every loan I was able to generate originated from a call-in or a walk-in customer.  After speaking to several others in the same position at different branches, I found that it was a very similar experience, one that I believe leads to a high turnover/burnout rate.

The other employees in my office was fine, as was the manager, but it seemed like we stayed too busy to really give each other the time of day. Everyone was nice enough.  High-deductible health plan, but not terrible. Our RVP was a nice guy, but I think he held branches to a difficult standard (which I'm sure comes from above him).  

Relatively competitive and high-pressure environment. An employee's experience is highly dependent on your Manager and Regional Vice President.  Bonus structure is decent, but base pay is not enough. Positions are technically "salaried" but pay is broken down to an hourly rate so that you can earn overtime (which is really nice). Bonuses are split among all (non-manager) employees evenly, which can be upsetting when you continuously lead production. The hiring/promotion structure of the company is relatively rushed, and you're expected to be ready to take on your own branch in a different location within 18-24 months. Willingness to relocate is REQUIRED, especially if you want to work your way up through the company. This can make it difficult for employees with established families to move up.  Even when someone takes their vacation, all branch goals stay the same. This can make it tense for the rest of the office when everyone has to pick up their collections, etc. Same for when someone is out sick. We only work Saturdays when the last day of the month falls on one for collection purposes (which is rare).  Benefits are decent. PTO policy is decent (3 weeks for vacation and sick).  

There are established Performance Reviews, which I consider a huge positive. You'll never NOT know how you're doing. But then again, so will your whole office. So, again, you have to be okay with a competitive environment. 

REPUBLIC DOES NOT INFLATE PAY WITH COST OF LIVING. The pay is not competitive, especially if you live in a large city.  Entry-level employees don't have much room for negotiating salary and/or PTO. 

A typical day includes soliciting current customers, closing loans, and collecting on delinquent accounts. If you don't like talking on the phone, dealing with the general public, or trying to collect payments via daily phone calls, then this may not be the job for you. 

If you thrive under pressure, you'll enjoy monthly bonuses and having your success publicized to your region. Republic is good about identifying and praising strong performers.

I will start by saying I will not say if I am currently employed or not. This is just my experience with Republic Finance. The company has great benefits to their branch operations positions. There is a monthly incentive that currently is not capped, you are immediately granted PTO, insurance benefits, 8-5 work hours and holidays off, and also a competitive starting base pay. There is little to no issue with requesting off or taking vacations, scheduling appointments or needing to leave for unexpected emergencies. Unfortunately, there cons are pretty big. The stress level that comes with working within a branch, whether it be a loan specialist or branch manager, can be absolutely overwhelming. The incentive structure seems to change a lot, along with goals and categories, meaning you really don’t know month to month what your monthly incentive might look like. They are also constantly changing the application and underwriting systems which effects your ability to approve loans and applications in the office, in turn effecting your monthly incentive as well. The oldest regions seem to be slowly dying out due to the lack of new customers, while the new regions are flourishing, and the promotional products being sent in the mail or offered online seems to be working against in the office operations, i.e. offering better APR percentages than offered in office or offering lower payments. You can’t really tell when you’re in the “dying” regions how much job security you have from day to day, not to mention the ever changing compliance policies that effect audit ratings. Majority of the time, the stress out ways the pros. Great company to work for if we are talking about schedule flexibility and management styles/personalities. Not so much when it comes to how your incentive pays is effected or your job stability. Hope this helps. 

Do not take on this job or work for this company if you have no sales experience. Lack of sales experience will make it extremely hard to generate loans and convince customers to renew loans. You are expected to take atleast 2 applications a day and atleast 3 loans. Everyday the team as a whole has to commit to a certain number of loans. If your branch doesn't meet production numbers you will be punished as a team and an individual. Republic Finance only cares about money. We recieve nasty emails every morning from upper management on how our best is not enough. In conclusion, it is our fault if customer don't want loans. 

Training is done through learning portal and you are expected to complete it by the due date while still expected to uphold your job duties. Assignments are mostly extremely long documents and interactive videos that are to be reviewed and at the end of each module you must take a test. I learned nothing but everything from hands on training. 

Most days are spent closing loans, solicitating, and collecting payments from deliquent accounts. You are expected to make 200+ calls each day to the same customers who have already expressed that they do not want a loan or to renew their current loan. I don't blame them who wants to be called early in the morning about a loan? Policy states that we can call a customer 3x times a day and 1 voicemail. Makes a lot of sense why customers never answer our calls and messages are never returned.

Your day will consist of making anywhere from 50 to more than 200 outbound calls for collection depending on the time of the month.  You will always be doing not enough.  You will also be responsible for taking payments, completing training processes, handling really difficult customers who don't understand the loans they got, and dealing with upper management constantly changing and changing their minds on what they want.  You will want to eat lunch at your desk if you have some free time so if you do manage to get a lunch break you can enjoy it.  Be sure to leave the building if you take lunch because they will make you come back to close a loan if your customer comes in unexpectedly.  If you are an Assistant Manager, be prepared to be constantly overloaded with responsibilities and the hassle of being relocated once you are manager eligible.  They will relocate you more than once so if you have family, mortgage, I dont recommend this place for you.  At least there are no field calls in Alabama so you don't drive to the customer residence anymore.  

I would stay away from this place unless you don't have a conscience and need a paycheck.  You will be constantly making loans solely to get the numbers they want and you will feel sick to you stomach when you see the interest rates.  Your reviews are highly based on the loans you do each month so go ahead and just try to forget that these are people you are dealing with and just treat them as account numbers.

Handling of sensitive and confidential information intended for processing and verification of loan applications with high level of professionalism. Prepare loan packages consisting of contracts, titles, documents, ancillary products, and disbursement checks. Receiving and resolving customer questions, including but not limited to calls, emails from staff and field loan officers, and prospective clients. Clear messages each morning and takes action or delivers to appropriate employees. Process customer’s payments, daily bank deposits, and end of the month reports. Perform clerical duties (e.g. filing, data entry, and preparation of correspondence).

I learned differences between hard credit inquiries and soft credit inquiries. How to prepare for future financial goals and what it steps needed to help build a higher credit score. I was able to use the tools I learned and help our customers do the same.

Hardest part of the job was collections when repossession of personal property was on the line.

Most enjoyable part of the job was assisting those in financial crisis get the temporary help needed to get back on their feet. Also, management was big on allowing his employees to be able to keep family a top priority as long as we were producing the results needed to meet in house goals as well.

The work itself is not difficult. Some managers are great while others fall short of the skills to be effective leaders. Assistant managers get “raises” every 3/6 months. SCLS get raises maybe once a year?? The raise is typically a couple of cents even if you are meeting/exceeding goals. I am making like $1.60 over what I was making when I started in 2019 despite the fact that I am regular top performer. Essentially on my paychecks I am making the same on my net income as when I started. Bonus structure is based on the branch’s goal and how many non managers are in the office. I think it’s a good incentive but can also be bad. For example, some team members may far exceed their goals and other team members may lag but both get the same bonus if the office reaches their 80% goal despite efforts. In my opinion, without the bonus, this job barely pays a professional wage even though they require many positions to have a college degree. I suppose their is room for advancement if you decide you are able to relocate to another state or town. However, once you are not relocatable there is little room for advancement. For loans, they do push us to sell insurances even if customers opt out. They also will get on you about a low loan count even if you are exhausting all your resources. 

Very demanding job that is a great fit for highly competitive individuals that will eagerly chase insanely high goals and incentive perks. Republic Finance is truly a remarkable company with an outstanding reputation, but if you are an introvert, like me, this may not be the right place for you.  It is a sales based job and even though they did a great job at training us to sell money and insurance products, I just never really believed in pushing high interest rate loans coupled with optional insurance products that people simply don’t want and are too expensive to purchase. You work a lot and get paid well. But if you don’t buy in to what you are doing then ultimately this job will wear you down over time. Burn out happens frequently. So does stress, pressure to achieve coupled with overwhelming workloads, and always being  on with a “yes attitude.” It’s a corporate job. Nothing wrong with that at all. A lot of people thrive in this kind of environment, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. Being a branch manger was very rewarding……..and Exhausting. 

I have been with Republic Finance for now about 2.5 years since 2017. I moved from Georgia to Alabama with no job, recently married, and in my late 20's. I didn't have any family or friends in Alabama but I applied for a position with in two days of coming to Alabama. The best job ever! I went to school for Business Economics in Georgia and I was seeking for a career in Finance. Republic Finance was the right choice. At work, I enjoying doing outbound calls to present customers to talk about expense consolidation, credit maintenance and building equity. I love talking on the phone and meeting people face to face to discuss future financial success. I feel like a financial planner for everyday people. Also,  I also get to do handle take payments on the customers, credit protection, tracking business growth/development, marketing to new leads/current leads, and leadership development. The management is very helpful in teaching sales skills, leadership, management, and personal development. The work place culture is always designed to be helpful so all team members. I never feel isolated or alone. I have tons of resources of departments and personal to call anyone for help.

Republic Finance is a great place to work. My typical work day includes making solicitation calls, closing loans, doing office daily duties, collection calls, helping my teammates with anything they may need, and helping customers achieve goals. I love the atmosphere I work in very upbeat, friendly and just all around a good positive place to work.  My workplace is very flexible on time off and needing off for personal or family reasons. I personally have a special needs son, who needs more attention than most, and I've been allowed to schedule appointments, meetings and unexpected events that arise with very little negative actions or feedback. The company gives, fair pay, ability to get promoted within company,  personal time off, major holidays, 401k, and health plans, these are all very appreciated in this day in time. I would highly suggest anyone to work for this company. I have offered to get couple friends a job here and get promoted within the company.

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